October 5, 2007 -- (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) -- This week, the Web hosting business saw announcements that covered the spectrum of the most notable types of Web hosting news, with several acquisitions completed, a collection of similarly themed new services and an enthusiastic new marketing project.
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Probably most significant was the announcement on Thursday that Hewlett-Packard had completed its acquisition of data center software firm Opsware, adding its automation tools to the HP portfolio of business technology automation software. HP says the purchase comes as the growth in data center complexity fuels the demand for automation software of the kind that Opsware builds. The companies say Opsware's technology will be integrated with the existing IT management solutions in the HP BTO group, which will be led by Opsware's former CEO Ben Horowitz.
On Monday, managed hosting provider Rackspace announced that it had acquired hosted email provider Webmail.us. Rackspace says the deal is part of an investment in transforming its traditional IT functions into consumable services delivered via the Web. The company plans to offer a portfolio of hosted IT services that offer more reliability and value than traditional IT configurations. Messaging and collaboration are the first of those areas Rackspace intends to approach.
While Rackspace added hosted mail services through acquisition, several hosting providers announced new services the old fashioned way this week, having developed them in house.
On Monday, Network Solutions announced that it would begin offering virtual private server hosting, a slightly late-to-the-game effort designed to accommodate cost-conscious customers looking for a flexible solution more powerful than their shared hosting offerings.
Lesser-known host ServerPoint said later in the week that it planned to introduce three new VPS hosting plans. ServerPoint says is VPS solutions are hosted on its Colosus II servers, developed in-house to have the power and functionality the company requires. Its VPS solutions start at $19.99 per year for a virtual server. Its high-end offering costs $49.99.
On Tuesday, managed host Layered Technologies launched a similarly home-grown service with its DynaVol grid-based data storage and management solution. The Web-based storage solution lets users store data or serve static content, guarding data at on- and off-site locations using its grid hosting infrastructure's transparent data mirroring. The solution provides nearly instant automated backup recovery, says the company.
In a bit of a change from the new-services stuff, Web host Go Daddy announced excitedly Thursday morning that it had scheduled a conference call that afternoon to report the signing of its new "Go Daddy Girl" spokesperson. Though the name had not been officially announced, there was plenty of speculation that the new spokesperson would be American Olympic swimmer Amanda Beard.
The speculation was confirmed later on Thursday, when Go Daddy officially announced that Beard was the new "Go Daddy Girl." Beard has won two gold medals, four silvers and a bronze, along with a national championship. She has also appeared in such magazines as Sports Illustrated, Outside, Maxim, FHM and on the cover of Playboy. Beard will shoot her first Go Daddy commercial this week in Los Angeles.
While this week's news contained stories from a variety of Web hosting angles, the greatest significance came mostly from the acquisition angle, which may also hold the greatest ongoing relevance, as both HP and Rackspace integrate their new properties, and quite likely explore further acquisition opportunities.
